Tag: miracles

ISO Sponsor!

Hey everyone! I am excited to do the coast to coast trip, hopefully next summer. BUT in order to be able to do it, I need a sponsor. Spread the word! Here’s a letter for companies to read about what I’m looking for in their sponsorship. It’s a great opportunity for so many people!

Sponsor Promo Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEaLHKPVWNQ&feature=youtu.be

Hello!

I need a company to sponsor my 3,000 mile coast-to-coast unicycle ride that is aimed at raising money to send deaf kids to college. (This cool video explains the details).

The sponsorship I am seeking will give me the funds to pay for supplies, equipment, an RV that will accompany me during the ride, and a PR representative that will set up news and journalism opportunities during my journey from state to state. The sponsor of my unicycle trip will have a unique opportunity to support the deaf community and receive a large amount of favorable press. I see this as a win for all parties.

I’m motivated to make this ride because I was born deaf. At 14 I got a cochlear implant and spent 2 years learning how to hear. Though I still have challenges, I’m finishing college and currently teach high school Art and ASL. Most deaf children are not as fortunate as I have been, so I want to raise money to give them similar opportunities to pursue their dreams.

I recently completed a 728 mile unicycle ride from Orem, Utah to the Canada border in 15 days, traveling as many as 107 miles in a single day. This Facebook Video that explains what I did and what I am going to do garnered 50,000 views in 36 different countries. The story of my ride was also picked up by a local Montana newspaper and I was asked to interview by KSL, a news organization that serves Utah and Idaho.

My two month, 3,000 mile ride will take me from California to Maryland along the RAAM trail. The ride will be fastest trip coast to coast on a unicycle and I am submitting an application to have my ride in the Guinness Book of World Records. My fundraising goal for the trip is between $100K and $300K, which will be raised by “selling” each mile from the trip. One hundred percent of the funds raised will be given to The Deaf Dream, a nonprofit charity that works to send deaf students to college in developing nations. I have been working with The Deaf Dream on this initiative for the last two years and they are committed to supporting me and arranging speaking engagements for me at several locations after my trip.

Benefits to the sponsor:

  • You will have a unique opportunity to reach loyal, niche audiences. For example, the 360,000 million deaf and hard-of-hearing people in the world, and the nearly 100,000 people each year that take classes in American Sign Language (the 4th most studied language in the USA).
  • I will wear your company logo for the entire two-month trip, and I will ride most of my miles on highways that have heavy traffic.
  • I will post your company logo on my Facebook page and website (OneWheelMan.com), and publicly thank you for your support.
  • In the videos I create prior to the trip and after the trip I will share that your company was my generous sponsor. These videos will be posted on YouTube, Facebook, my website, Instagram etc.
  • During the public speaking engagements on the way back I will give a shout out to your company.  These speaking engagements are being coordinated by The Deaf Dream.
  • You will be empowering the first ever college students in many countries.

I am committed to pursuing this challenge to benefit those in the deaf community that don’t have the same opportunities that I do and I look forward to discussing how we can make a mutually beneficial agreement. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions. I look forward to hearing from you!

Thank You!

Erik Jensen

theonewheelman@gmail.com

Reflections on the Ride to Canada

Wasn’t this trip awesome!?  Wow.  I actually did it!  It’s absolutely amazing.  I’ve pulled some things together for this post I thought you’d find interesting.  Take a look!

Statistics 

728 miles

76 hours of riding

13 days of riding within 15 calendar days

Compare plan to actual

I made it in the number of days I had planned.  However, I was planning more like 750 miles.  I was only 22 miles short.  This is for several reasons.  One, I had to skip some really bad parts that were unrideable and two, because I ended up on the interstate in Montana, I was on a shorter route.  I’d say it was a job well done!

I had planned to do 50-60 miles a day and then a long run the last day to see how far I could go.  We had reservations at motels and such due to those plans.  It made it a little difficult to do more.  We cancelled a couple of them because we were too far past that point.  There were several days I felt I could go further than I did.

Thoughts/Notes

An athletic diet is a tough one, making sure you get enough carbohydrates and protein when appropriate.  I have some intolerances to some of the common ingredients in energy bars and other foods.  It was hard to find the right snacks without those ingredients.  And when we did find them, they weren’t cheap.  That’s one thing I need to research better so I can feel on top of my game the whole time.

I wanted to keep riding some days, but we were already past where we were staying for the night, so I couldn’t go much further.  An RV would make the trip a whole lot easier.  I can ride as much as I can and want each day and we won’t have to drive too far to get to a place to sleep.  Rest stops, Walmarts, campgrounds, etc. will be available for us to park for the night.  All in all, we need an RV for the coast to coast trip.

After riding on the suggested roads from Google and finding several of them to be dirt and/or gravel roads, I’ve learned I need to study the road types and state laws on what roads I can ride on.  On my ride to Canada, it was simply that I couldn’t ride on the interstates in Utah and Idaho and the roads that weren’t dozens of miles out of the way were the nasty ones.  So grateful for Montana being a less populated state that cyclists can ride on any road or interstate.  That made my life so much easier.

There were times on the trip that I felt like I wasn’t the only one on the wheel.  It felt as though other people were on it with me.  I felt a bunch of responsibility and I hoped I could measure up and do it.  It was a team effort.  I was not alone.  Thank you to everyone on my team!

Thanks

There are so many people that helped put this trip together and help me pull it off.  Without them, I’d probably be stranded on the side of the road, whether in city/town or in the middle of nowhere.  I’d like to give a big thanks to all of these.

  • Family and friends for moral support and housing.
  • Organizations: the Deaf Dream, Deaf Vibe, Airbnb, The Cascade Courier
  • All prayers on my behalf.
  • Those who followed/shared the trip on here, Facebook, etc.
  • Individuals I met along the way, stopped to take pictures, talk with me, insisted I accept their donations (going towards next trip), helped me fix things up and keep going when necessary.
  • And of course my wife, who was with me the whole trip though 6 months pregnant.  She never let me down.  She’s the best cheerleader, coach, driver, supporter, and of course the best wife!  Always encouraged me and supported my dream and goal.

Dreams

I have a dream that all people can achieve their dreams.  Sometimes it just takes a little motivation and encouragement.  Other times it takes another person by your side.  But really, once you set your mind to it, you can do it!

My dream is to help deaf people throughout the world achieve their goals and dreams.  I can do this by raising money for them to get a higher education.  I can’t do it alone, but I am determined to make it happen with the help of many others.

Plans

I’m hoping we can get everything in order to do the coast to coast trip next summer!!!  I’m hoping to start mid-May and ride the RAAM trail in about 2 months.  I need to find a sponsor to pay for it and many people to donate.

And guess what!?  You finally can!  Go to The Deaf Dream’s home page.  If you scroll down, it mentions my trip and there’s a button for you to donate.  100% of funds will go towards scholarships for deaf students around the world.  You are making a difference!

Day 8

I usually have to stop for about an hour to eat lunch and we stopped about 30 miles from where we were staying, so I decided to have my wife stay at the motel while I rode back to that spot and she could pick me up there and I could eat on the way back and save time.  I started at 7:10am in Dillon, Montana.  However, as soon as I got to the dirt road again, it was jamming up my knees.  You can’t really have that as a long distance cyclist.  So after 14 miles, I turned around and went back, meeting my wife at the motel instead.  I still got my miles in, but less driving.

IMG_20160621_100000806

While I was gone, my wife contacted the person about current cycling laws on highways and interstates.  They simply told her that all roads are open to cyclists!  Yay!  This means I don’t have to ride on dirt roads anymore!  Miracle!

IMG_20160621_123159131_HDR     IMG_20160621_160042

(left: Lewis and Clark named this Beaverhead; right: does this picture make my butt look big?)

After lunch, I kept going, on a paved highway.  I was going so fast!  I averaged about 11.8 miles per hour when usually I get between 9 and 10.  I also did 66 miles!  That’s a personal record!  Wow.  I got to Silver Star, Montana at 3:20pm.  It’s a tiny town, but a good stopping point for the day.

Day 8 speed limit     IMG_20160621_151217517

(left: this is actually on a highway….; right: welcome to Silver Star, MT)

We seem to be getting a little ahead of schedule, so we decided not to stay in the motel in Dillon and we were lucky to find a lady on Airbnb in Butte that could take us for the night.  Today has certainly been another day full of miracles.

     Day 8 couple bridge

Day 8 big tire 4

(top: wife and I in the sunglasses we bought for our wedding; bottom: I wish my tire were that big!)

Day 8 Stats:

Started at 7:10am in Dillon, MT

Rode toward yesterday’s ending point and back through Dillon and on.

Ended at 3:20pm in Silver Star, MT

7.5 hours of riding

66 miles (Personal Record!)

Random Fact:

Unicycle seats are not comfortable, but they’re not too bad either.  It helps having padded cycling shorts.  🙂